Piston stabilizer



Oct. 16, 1951 E. T. CHAIX PISTON STABILIZER Filed April 19, 1950 FIG.

IHHHI 1 4 INVENTOR:

5 ERNEST T. CHAIX AT TORNEY.

4 HIH ELIIIII Patented 0a. 16, 1951 UNITED STATES TENT OFFICE PISTON STABILIZER Ernest T. Chaix, St. Louis, Mo., assignor, by mesne assignments, to Ramsey Corporation, a

corporation of Ohio 7 Claims. i

My invention has relation to improvements in piston stabilizers (sometimes called piston skirt expanders) and it consists in the novel features of construction more fully set forth in the specification and pointed out in the claims.

The object of the invention is to provide a piston stabilizer especially for use in internal combustion engines that will rehabilitate the worn engine by expanding the piston skirt to overcome excessive clearance between piston and cylinder due to wear. In addition to this general object it is a specific object of the invention to provide a stabilizer that is made up of an assembly of standard parts of varying sizes so that these parts may be assembled to fit pistons of varying sizes. The advantage of this manner of assembly is that a large number of sizes of finished expanders do not have to be manufactured and stocked by the manufacturer. Obviously a great saving in the manufacturing cost may thus be efiected, and the cost to the consumer lowered. These advantages, as well as others inherent in the invention, will be better apparent from a detailed description of the invention in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a combined side elevation and middle longitudinal section of a typical piston showing my improved expander applied to the skirt thereof for the purpose of expanding the skirt thereof in a direction at right angles to the axis of the wrist pin; Figure 2 is a bottom plan of the piston showing the expander in place.

Figure 3 is a longitudinal section of the piston skirt taken on a plane indicated by the line 3-3 in Figure 1; Figure 4 is a side elevation of one of the hangers for supporting the expander from the wrist pin; Figures 5 and 6 are fragmentary views of the pressure members for imparting the expander spring tension to the piston skirt.

Figure '7 is the fragmentary bottom plan of a further modified form of the invention, and Figure 8 is a perspective view of a fragment of the bearing member shown in Figure 7.

Referring to the drawings, P represents a piston connected to a connecting rod R (dotted Figures 2 and 3) by a wrist pin W. A stabilizer (or expander) E is inserted within the piston skirt S for the purpose of spreading the same to impart a cam shape thereto to take up excessive clearance due to wear. The stabilizer is not new per se, as many types are on the market and in use. However, the expander of the present invention is assembled of a plurality of separate parts which are selected according to size to fit the particular piston that is being rehabilitated. The parts comprise a pair of hangers I each of which terminates in a tubular housing 2 in which is a coiled spring 3. The upper end of each hanger is provided with an opening 4 to receive the wrist pin W on which the hanger is supported between adjacent piston boss B and connecting rod R. The hanger I and housing 2 are integrated by welding ears 5, 5, 5, formed on the hanger l, to the tube 2 (Figure 4) The pressure of the springs 3, 3 within housings 2, 2 is imparted to opposite sides of piston skirt S through pressure members 6, 6 formed of flat metal and each having cylindrical bosses 7, I welded (or riveted) to its extremities.

The bosses l, 1 are slidab -y disposed in the ends of housings 2, Z and the bosses of the opposed pressure members confine the springs 3, 3 between them. The pressure members each have a back 8 of any one of several desirable shapes to contact the inner surface of piston skirt S. The length of springs 2, 2 is of such extent that when the-skirt expander is lodged within a piston skirt the bearing members are pressed together to. place the springs under considerable tension. Obviously this tension (spring pressure) is com municated to the opposite surfaces of the piston skirt so that the same is slightly distorted and again fits the cylinder snugly.

In Figures 1 to 3 inclusive I show stabilizers having arcuate backs 8, 8. However, in some installations I may prefer an inwardly bent back 9 such as shown in Figure 5. In this form each back 9 has two bearing surfaces I0, Iii for contact with the piston skirt.

In Figure 6 I show a V-shaped back H which gives a, single line contact 12 with the piston skirt.

In Figure 7 I show a modified form of the invention wherein the housing member 2 is formed in a rectangular cross-section and the bearing member 8' has terminal bosses [5, i5, formed at the extremities of the bearing member by merely bending the metal thereof.

Obviously the invention is susceptible to other modifications without departing from the spirit thereof.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. A piston stabilizer comprising a pair of supporting hangers arranged in spaced relation, said hangers terminating in tubular housings, coiled springs disposed within the housings, pressure members supported by the housings so as to confine the springs between their extremities, said pressure members having piston skirt contacting elements.

2. A piston stabilizer comprising a pair of supporting hangers arranged in spaced relation, said hangers terminating in tubular housings, coiled springs disposed within the housings, pressure members supported by the housings and separable therefrom so as to confine the springs between their extremities, said pressure members having piston skirt contacting elements.

3. A piston stabilizer comprising a pair of supporting hangers arranged in spaced relation, said hangers terminating in tubular housings, coiled springs disposed Within the housings, pressure members floatingly supported by the housings so as to confine the springs between their extremities, said pressure members having piston skirt contacting elements.

4. A piston stabilizer comprising a pair of supporting hangers arranged in spaced relation, said hangers terminating in tubular housings, coiled springs disposed within the housings, pressure members supported by the housings so as to confine the springs between their extremities, said pressure members each having piston skirt contacting elements in spaced relation.

5. A piston stabilizer comprising a pair of supporting hangers arranged in spaced relation, said hangers terminating in housings, coiled springs disposed within the housings, pressure members supported by the housings so as to confine the springs between their extremities, said pressure 4 members each having piston skirt contacting elements in spaced relation.

6. A piston stabilizer comprising a pair of supporting hangers arranged in spaced relation, said hangers terminating in tubular housings of rectangular cross-section, coiled springs disposed within the housings, pressure members supported by the housings so as to confine the springs between their extremities, said pressure members each having piston skirt contacting elements in spaced relation.

'7. A piston stabilizer comprising a pair of supporting hangers arranged in spaced relation, said hangers terminating in housings, longitudinally expanding springs disposed within the housings, pressure members supported by the housings so as to confine the springs between their extremities, said pressure members each having piston skirt contacting elements.

ERNEST T. CHAIX.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,631,952 Long June '7, 1927 1,820,253 Sieman, Jr. Aug. 25, 1931 2,069,615 Long Feb. 2, 1937 2,112,871 Wilson Apr. 5, 1938 

